Archive for the 'Darius Miles' Tag Under 'Lakers' Category

Darus Miles scored 13 points in 13 minutes Tuesday night for the Memphis Grizzlies in a loss to Cleveland.

That's not too bad for some determined physically unable to play last year by both the Portland Trail Blazers and an independent physician appointed by the NBA.

Now Miles is one game appearance away from having his $18 million salary for this season and next ($9 million each) thrown back onto the Trail Blazers' salary cap -- despite Portland's attempts to intimidate the rest of the league from signing him.

It was Miles' third game as a Grizzlie, the first since he was re-signed last week. He played six exhibition games with the Boston Celtics. The points were Miles' first since he suffered his knee injury in the 2005-06 season while with Portland.

We interrupt the 24-hour Sasha Vujacic Network for this important NBA bulletin:

The Portland Trail Blazers, stung by the potential loss of $18 million in salary cap space over the next two seasons, as well as luxury tax implications, have reportedly sent a memo to the rest of the league, warning rivals of possible litigation if any team has the gall to sign Darius Miles to a contract and play him in two more games.

The memo, reproduced in reports by Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, Sports Illustrated's Ian Thomsen and ESPN, is not only threatening in nature, it smacks of blackmail and .... collusion.

And I am guessing David Stern doesn't want the C-word messing up his NBA landscape. Especially not now, not with the Lakers and Celtics fully engaged in another version of their timeless rivalry, and LeBron James taking us to places we've only visited with Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.

Expect Stern to lay the smackdown on the Blazers. Let the kid -- Miles is still only 27 -- play if he wants to. He clearly can.